paaskynen

Of course, the dilemma faced by identical twins when romance comes between them, has been done many times before, but this charming Thai film gives it a fresh setting. The young actress who plays both sisters does an outstanding job of giving each her own personality. (This would naturally not have been possible without the stand-in who plays the other sister in scenes where split screen was not an option.) The story unfolds in a mostly urban environment in the year 1999. The fallout of the Thai economic crash of the late 1990s and the hullabaloo about the turn of the millennium, as well as the fear of the Y2K problem sparking the end of the world play in the background. The story does not need any beach settings or tourist attractions to hold the viewer's attention. It is the interaction between the sisters, complicated by their first crush and financial strain on their family life, that carries the story forward. I liked it.

I started watching this TV-series completely blank, going only by the short Netflix description. I really wanted to like it, but the makers would not let me. A few action scenes are connected by endlessly slow and dull sequences. The makers have a particular weakness for painfully slow 360 degree pans and toe curlingly slow zooms which they throw in whenever they possibly can. The dialogue is pretty minimal and uninspired and, did I mention, slow. The storyline is messy and pointless. I played the last four episodes at 1.5x speed and I still did not miss a single thing. In fact, it was still sluggish!

In short, this TV-series is a pretentious pile of steaming dookie and I would advise anyone reading this to give it a miss.